Yello all, once again Retro7 here to give the good word on the lastest Fairy Tail doings with my second review here on this grand site. Not much really to say so lets just get down to brass techs. Special thanks go out to INP-Mangaz for giving us their English translation of the chapter.

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Now where were we…?: The Harvest Festival has begun and the FT guild kicks it off with a beauty pageant. However Luxus and his bodyguards interrupt the festival and turn all the guild’s girls into stone. Their gist is they wanna play a game where the strongest FT member survives otherwise, the girls, who Luxus holding hostage as insurance that the remaining guild members play, will be killed.

Right off the bat…:
So we pick up at where we left off. Natsu is more then happy to take one Luxus again though the latter, as always, look on at him with indifference. That doesn’t stop Natsu though as he recklessly charges the stage toward Luxus despite warnings from the others. But of course he doesn’t listen and end up getting taken down with one lighting blast. Seriously, we all knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, but its always fun seeing Natsu at least try.

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From bad to worse…
After that little episode, Evergreen info the rest that to turn the girls back to normal they’ll have to defeat Luxus and the Raijinshu in under three hours, otherwise the girls will turn to sand much to the growing shock of the other members. As if holding them hostage was enough, now the group has a time limit to worry about too. At least this seem more urgent then the Paradise Tower deal, losing a loved one would kinda be more frantic then a huge beam crashing on top of your head. (Or course that turned out to be a ruse to absorbs it power into the tower, this looks like a real deal)

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Hide and Seek Extreme
Of course the Raijnshu aren’t going to make it easy, they’ve decided to use the whole town as a battle field and the FT member are to find and defeat them if they wanna win. Markov instantly goes Hulk to take em on but Luxus manages a flash bang effect blinding the heroes. When it subside the Raijinshu are gone, say the least the members instantly head into town swearing vengeance on the group. Arzack is especially anxious as after all his crush, Visca, is on the line as well. Nice to see one of the minor members finally getting a little screen time here.

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Damn rules!
Markov is pretty much riled up as he charges into town with his fellow members. But suddenly find that that he oddly can’t go any further from where the pageant was being held, there an invisible wall blocking him. Gray tries to pull him through but no such luck, its then that the group notice letters hanging in the air similar to Levi’s magic. However as Markov note this type of magic, which is Fried’s doing (the the dude with the lighting spike horn in his head), is a restriction type that has a rule written into it. Those trapped within must obey the rules or they can’t get out. In this case “No Male Statues or People over 80 can get out”. Ouch, looks like Luxus covered his tracks well here, then again shouldn’t be too surprising he is Markov’s grandson so he would know what the guild master was capable of. That two major powers (the other being Erza) out of the way and the FT strength now cut in half. Not good.

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Is there a way…?
Since Markov held back, Gray goes on ahead vowing to make Luxus pay even if he has to kill him regardless if he related to the guild master. As the ice mage head out, Markov can’t help but wonder if any of the guild can beat Luxus, he not an S-Mage for nothing, so it going to be an uphill battle for all of them. Its then another FT member, Reedus, makes himself known. Seem he was afraid of taking on Luxus and hid away, a lover not a fighter huh (he did try to stay out of action during the Phantom Lord arc preferring to look after Lucy, course if you’ve been following since that time you know how well that worked out XP). One has to wonder how he manages to get any jobs done for the guild though. But in any case he can pass through the barrier to which Markov instructs him to find Polyushko and see if she can undo the magic. Before Reedus can do so, Natsu awakens from his stupor. HA that’s our boy!

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The heck?!
Seeing this and his vigor on taking out Luxus, Makov order Natsu to find and crush him which he more than happy to do so as she rush for the town gate…and promptly slams right into the barrier. The fudge?! We know full well Natsu not a staute so that only leave the over age rule. Either Natsu hiding something or maybe it might have something to do with his power. Regardless, he also out of action for the time being as well. It official, FT handicapped now.

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Dirty Tatics
We then go to Arzack, Jet and Droy who are having no luck in finding the Raijinshu. Arzak getting a little upset at this point but before the other can calm him down. Fried’s magic kicks in around them proclaiming that only the strongest FT member can leave the barrier. The two Shadow Gear members are against the idea of fighting on another, but Arzack more than willing to do what has to be done to save his love. Which explains Luxus ploy, why take down the competition yourself when the other can do the work for you? It’s a coward’s move but you gotta admit deviously ingenious. Also page 18 looks to have a little error there with the second word bubble. Probably meant to curve the tail in the balloon inward so that is was Happy talking (Sounds like him . Markov wouldn’t ask something that dumb). Eh just a little oversight though, happens all the time when you’re trying to meet a weekly dead line.

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Fairies vs Fairies
It then goes back to Natsu whose pounds on the barrier having no clue as to why he trapped in with Markov. Suddenly the wording changes t which Markov read as an inside speed report, telling the happening of what going on in the town. The report reveals that Arzak and Droy suddenly faced against each other with Arzak the winner (Guess Jet got sucker punched). We then cut back to that scene as Arzak makes his way out of the barrier, very regretful what hes done as he apologize to his fellow mages who from the looks of it are knocked out. Natsu and Markov are indeed shocked at this while Luxus seems to rejoice at the prospect of the FT members killing each other as the chapter closes. Indeed the battle of Fairy Tail has begun.

And so…
Rules stated with a time limit in place, town now a battleground, Natsu and Markov locked out of the action, Possible way to break the barrier if Reedus can get outside of town, Jet and Droy out of action as Arzak pushes on and 81 fairies remaining. Talk about a pinch if there ever was one.

Final Call
Still more of a setup chapter then anything but indeed a very good tension filled one. Hiro really going all out to make us hate these Raijinshu guys and doing it nicely, say the least the FT are in for a rough road ahead. Especially Arzak since Hiro putting some more focus on him. But what more intriguing is how he going to explain why Natsu can’t pass through the barrier. Granted it basically the start of build up once he does manage to get through but still I can’t wait to hear the reason why. Heh really something to look forward too all around here. Good chapter.

sahugani

October 24, 2008, 05:14 PM

i like the review alot. i also thought this was a good chapter and actually ranks as one of my favorites so far. mostly this is because it feeds my craving for theorization as well as character development for background characters

there are a few things i really took note of in the chapter

first of all, i am extremely pleased to see Arzak getting some development. this arc is uniquely suited to exploring the powers and motivations of the more minor guild members. of the guild members, the two most passionate about saving the girls has to be Arzak and Elfman due to Arzak's love for Visca and Elfman's for his sister, Mirajane. everyone else in the guild is connected to the girls on a more "teammate" basis that cannot compare to the motivations of these two. i expect that at some point, these two will be pitted against eachother and at that time we'll see Arzak's magic at full force. at some point, a Fairy Tail member will need to cool Arzak's passion. i'm hoping that Elfman will be that person

another issue is Natsu being affected by the barrier. from his guild member card, we have been told that his age is unknown. with the new clue from the barrier, it is time for some theorization. we can now assume that he is above 80 years of age due to the barrier, yet he appears to be only about 19. we also know that he was a child during his time with Igneel and has aged normally since then to his current appearance. this could mean one of a few options. many options entail Natsu somehow having a former life before his adoption that he cannot remember. this could mean he was a reincarnated soul, a being that was sealed away until Igneel came, or many other options that we lack enough info to speculate on.

the last topic i feel like covering is the abilities of the Raijinshuu. all three now have the basics of their abilities revealed and with that, i can do a bit of speculation. first of all, i'm guessing that with respect to the girls being hostages, Evergreen and Bixlow's abilities work in tandem. with the girls' bodies petrified, i'm guessing Bixlow can use his ability to affix their helpless souls to items. even if someone manages to beat Evergreen, who i'm guessing will be the first to go, Bixlow will need to be beaten in order to restore their souls. i'm hoping that one of these two is taken down by a combo of Elfman and Arzak. the final member is Fried, whose ability seems to include the creation of barriers with absolute rules. as Makarov says though, this is not a combat skill and takes time to prepare, so he is probably biding his time and monitoring the area to set up matches. as long as he remains, the fight among Fairy Tail mages will continue and both Makarov and Natsu will be out of commission. i expect that Gazille will be the one to fight him. as i said, his job is primarily to monitor the duels and so he is likely in a hidden location. this means that Gazille with his heightened dragon slayer nose is the most likely to locate him. i'm guessing his combat style uses smaller and more temporary versions of his rule barriers that he can erect with a mere short chant. he handicaps his opponent with barriers that limit movement or create one way shields that block attacks to him but allow his sword to attack through

Helltroll

October 26, 2008, 08:31 AM

another issue is Natsu being affected by the barrier. from his guild member card, we have been told that his age is unknown. with the new clue from the barrier, it is time for some theorization. we can now assume that he is above 80 years of age due to the barrier, yet he appears to be only about 19. we also know that he was a child during his time with Igneel and has aged normally since then to his current appearance. this could mean one of a few options. many options entail Natsu somehow having a former life before his adoption that he cannot remember. this could mean he was a reincarnated soul, a being that was sealed away until Igneel came, or many other options that we lack enough info to speculate on.

Or maybe it's just the scarf from Igneel, which is imbued with Dragon Scales that are older than eighty :amuse